Welcome

… to the Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain

from Carlos Gómez, chairman.

The Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain, commonly known as the Spanish Evangelists’ Conference, began its existence as a result of Amsterdam ’83, a world meeting of evangelists led by Billy Graham. The following year the first conference was held in Spain, with the objective of uniting the efforts of Spanish evangelicals to take advantage of the advent of democracy and religious freedom just a few years earlier.

Over the years, seven conferences have taken place, approximately 4 years apart. In addition, the Conference has organized a good number of training and evangelistic events, all aimed at inspiring and enabling Spanish evangelicals to reach Spain with the good news of Jesus Christ.

29 years on, the Conference continues to fulfill its objectives, although it is happy that in the meantime many other organisations and fellowships have developed, bringing individual Christians and churches together to bring the gospel to Spain.

Current activity

Under the leadership of a nationally recognized team of evangelists and pastors, the conference continues to plan new activities and prepare materials for the work.

In particular, our communications department has for three years been producing a series of papers entitled Ayudas Ministeriales, Ministry Aids, which provides regular updates of material about Bible sciences, evangelism, family issues, history and biography, sermons, etc.. In 2007 a new publication is Sala de Espera, ‘Waiting Room’, an extensive distribution free magazine, which churches are invited to distribute through waiting rooms at bus and train stations, medical centers and so on.

My Hope – December 2011

The Conference fully supported the major TV outreach which took place during December 2011. MY HOPE was broadcast between 15th and 17th December, producing a veritable harvest of souls. Read more on this from the BGEA report.

VIII Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain

The 8th Conference is upon us. It takes plce between 12th and 14th October 2012, with the title “Go and Tell it!”

Prayer

Since 2003 the Conference has had a prayer network. For 3 years this worked mainly through an email distribution system. Currently the system is being renewed, but the web is now fundamental in distribution of prayer topics.

For the English language prayer letters we are happy to have been able to count on our sister site Pray4Spain. This site is packed with all kinds of news and information of a general kind as well as specific prayer requests and prayer letters. During 2011-12 the news element of this site has gradually been supplemented (and in part replaced) by our Facebook Page.

Conference specific prayer requests

8th Evangelists’ Conference, October 2012

Please pray for the next national conference, which will be held close to Madrid 12th to 14th October, 2012. Currently members of the standing committee are hard at work preparing the details of the conference, as well as doing many other behind-the-scenes jobs to make sure it goes smoothly. The outcome is in the Lord’s hands, but he has chosen to work through us and through your prayer in support of the conference.

Regional presentations

The standing committee continues to hold occasional regional presentations at meetings of pastors. The objective is to keep the churches in Spain’s 17 regions up to date with developments in the Conference, as well as providing them with a broader national vision for evangelism.

Mientras Esperas

The ‘While you wait’ project is well established. This magazine is being circulated by a large number of churches across the country. More info.

‘There is Hope’

At Christmas of 2011 there was a major outreach following the plan of the BGEA My Hope outreaches. It involved training local believers to invite family, friends and neighbours to their homes on three evenings to view specially prepared evangelistic broadcasts. Several thousand decisions were recorded. The three programs on DVD and all the other materials are now available to continue with the work started last year.

EVANGELISM PROJECT for Spain

Introduction

The Conference for the Evangelization of Spain (Conference) is constantly looking for new ways to reach our nation. Over the years many methods have been tried and supported. These have included evangelistic rallies, satellite relays of Billy Graham crusades, etc. However, the means of the Evangelists’ Conference have always been limited, so it has rarely been possible to do more than offer encouragement, training and other support, in addition to the major motivational input at the conferences themselves, taking place approximately every 4 years since 1984.

Ayudas Ministeriales

In 2004 the Conference, supported by a number of significant ministries in Spain, such as the Bible Society, Decision, Campus Crusade, Every Home Crusade, OM, etc., launched a project called Ayudas Ministeriales (Ministry Helps), which brings together in bi-monthly deliveries, articles on a variety of areas useful to ministry leaders. Some 200 subscriptions have been taken up and the costs have virtually been covered, although it has to be said that it was hoped to reach a level of subscriptions which would have reported a net contribution to the Conference. We are thankful that the Lord provided through a different route, but we would still like to get these materials out to a wider audience and indeed are publicising them whenever possible.

Mientras Esperas

It has come to our notice that in many countries free handout evangelistic magazines, rather like the free general newspapers which are widely available, are making a significant impact and enabling people to read the gospel presentation in a non-threatening way. For example, one member of our committee came across this ministry in Colombia on a preaching tour. Magazines left in ‘waiting rooms’ at rail, bus or gas stations, airports, doctors and so on, were being picked up and read by a wide variety of people who might never shadow the doors of our churches.

We believe that with a magazine suitably adapted to our culture, many more people will be presented with the gospel and with opportunities to meditate on it and respond. So was born the idea of the magazine ‘Sala de Espera’ (Waiting Room). Material from the friend in Colombia has been made available to us and with permission to adapt as necessary to help in the launch.

The idea is to have a regular, but not dated magazine, initially produced every 2 months. Churches are able to buy numbers of it according to their vision and budget and plan their own distribution procedures. If they buy sufficient copies, a space on the back page can be used to print local contact details and meeting times. Thus ‘Sala de Espera’ is becoming an integral part of the evangelistic strategy of local churches all over Spain.

The magazine consists of 16 semi-gloss pages, A5 size (approximately Letter folded once), all in full color. This is smaller, but of higher quality than the free tabloid papers, but the distribution of them could be similar, through carefully placed dispensers -still to be launched- or individually on the magazine tables at doctors and dentists, for example. The precise method of distribution depends on local church decisions, but it is hoped that a unified dispenser will follow the first editions of the paper.

The kind of article will be ones which start where the people are, taking topics of general interest and bringing an evangelistic slant without being overly heavy with Bible exposition. Thus people will be enabled to see that the Gospel is relevant to them and even attractive. They will be given the explanation of how to respond, but will naturally not be forced to do so.

Launch procedure

The Spanish churches are now being offered the opportunity to participate in this project and our board member Bernardo Serrano is heading it up. It was launched in early Spring, 2007, with a number 1. We are grateful to the Lord that we already had a sufficient number of churches committed to the project before launch to be able to pay for the first print run, with many more having signed up during the summer, on seeing the real thing. Many churches have committed a significant part of their annual evangelism budget to the project, and we are also grateful to the Lord that we had already been granted a small amount of launch aid to cover much of the initial costs. The printer has shown very willing to print the first edition without up front payment, trusting us to pay on time thereafter. The second edition went to press in September and it is hoped the bi-monthly frequency will be reached for 2008.

Costing

Having looked into the printing costs, it seems that it is essential to print (and sell on) at least 20,000 copies of each edition to make it possible to sell it at a reasonable cost. At this level, the cost per copy can be brought just below 20c, which is the price we would ask the churches to pay. Assuming that a church would order 2,000 copies every other month, this would mean a monthly budget commitment of 200€ plus delivery. Smaller congregations could also get a version which is not overprinted with local contact details, leaving the space clear for them to stamp the copies.

Budget

With an initial print run of 20,000 copies, the set-up and print cost would be 3,700 Euros (4736 USD) Delivery would be 4,200 ($5376), preparatory work and administration 1,100 ($1,400). Allowing 500€ for unforeseen costs, the total cost for the launch edition would be 9,500€ ($12,161). Since the are few suitable businesses owned by evangelicals, it is unlikely that we will use advertising to cover costs. Besides, this would lose valuable space for the gospel message.

The churches pay 20c per copy and cover delivery themselves. In each case the delivery costs depend on the distance from the printer – in southern Spain- and the choice of service. Assuming a full take-up of the early editions, it is expected that there will be an on-going edition deficit for some time, both because not all of each edition will be immediately sold and due to office costs not being fully covered until a higher volume is reached.

We give thanks to supporters who have helped with launch costs and trust that more will be willing to help with on-going office and editorial costs until the magazine is fully solvent. Thank you!